Prove the Pattern

With the conclusion that a "sleeper" is not to be, it is time to get on with the relaxed pulled back head pose that has been attracting me.

To both prove this is a good pose and to learn the mechanics/ anatomy of how to pull it off, a quick gunning bird is in order.  The focus is the head, neck breast attachment, so there will be no raised primaries or any fancy stuff on the body.

The Gunning Bird Pattern adjusted from the sleeper attempt.

The 2 piece cedar body being held by "Jaws" while I work it down using a shave. (For my friend Rick...I do use SOME hand tools!)

Body shaped and the tupelo head cut out ready for shaping.  The head looks way oversize at this point since it is a profile  of the head at its widest point.  There is LOTS of wood to come off of this!

Head shaped and eyes set.  Something appears wrong and I am not liking this pose...yet.  

Front view of the bird.  Note the center line on the head...CRITICAL that this stays on until the head is finished.

Certainly, there is more wood to come off of the neck and breast.  The problem at this stage is trying to determine where if there is too much wood, or too little wood.  It will easily fool you and you think that you have taken off too much wood in one area.  When you take a little wood of in another area, you find that in fact you still have more to remove from the original area.  However, what makes this difficult is that IF you have taken off too much wood .....@#$%@*&*#@ and you get to start over.

Up until this moment, you are dealing with 2 blocks of wood.  This is now the stage where you are trying to coax the bird out of the block.  Sometimes it wants to come out and it takes no time at all and every cut seems to be pre determined.  Other times, it is a fight to get the bird out and it resists you every step of the way.  Other than carving the detail into finished bills, this is the part of the carving process that is the most difficult and takes the most time.

The best thing to do now, is to leave the carving for at least a day and come back to it with fresh eyes and a fresh mind.  When I come back, I will review all of my photo reference to reset my eyes and mind BEFORE I look at the bird....kind of a sneak attack of sorts.